Second Chances: A The Last of Us Fan Fiction
by JandroUSMC
Summary: The tale of Ellie, as told from an observer, chronicling her journeys nearly 10 years after we last saw her. The story of her finding something to fight for, when all she had, was torn from her.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

"Joel! Get off your lazy ass!" Shouted Ellie from outside. "Ben spotted that damn moose!"

Joel sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. "I'm comin', I'm comin'."

He reached down and slung his backpack on. His back popped and crackled, he wasn't as spry as he was three years ago, when he first stepped through these gates, into the place where he would stay forever. He stepped out of the door and looked around. Suddenly Ellie jumped out from under the porch and shouted.

"Damn it Ellie!" He jumped back.

Ellie laughed. "Well, your old ass keeps falling for it! Now come on! We're gonna lose this moose again if we stand around, sniffing each other's asses all day!"

Ellie grabbed his hand and ran, leading him toward the gate. The guard stepped out and shoved it open. He wished them luck as the flew past. Soon they came over a hill and they saw Ben sitting there, his rifle unslung.

"I was clearing out any lurking infected when I saw him. I remember Ellie bitching about you sneezing and scaring him off." He paused as Joel gave Ellie a little shove. "You got yourselves quite the bull here."

"Cut the shit Ben, we'll talk later." Ellie said, standing on her toes and looking around. "Where's this damn moose?"

Ben shook his head and smirked. "Just over that hill there." He pointed east. "He was drinking at Fischer's pond."

Ellie shot off down the hill. Joel started after her, but turned back to Ben. "Thanks."

Ben made a shooing motion. "Go on now! Don't wanna piss her off!"

Joel turned back and jogged after Ellie. She had slung her bow off her back and was crouched by a tree. Joel slipped in behind her. He was a massive beast; bigger than any Joel had ever seen before. He just sat there by the lake and chewed some grass; easy pickings.

"Joel." Ellie whispered. "Have your rifle ready, if the bastard runs, put him down. We're not losing him this time."

Joel pulled his rifle out of his backpack and laid it in the crotch of a tree. He sighted in on the bull. Ellie caught his attention as she snuck between cover. Inching ever closer to the moose. She knocked an arrow and drew back her bowstring. Joel sighted in just in time to see the arrow pierce between the ribs and punch through the lungs and heart. The moose jumped and called before collapsing into the shallow water.

Ellie cheered and then called to Joel. "Got the fucker!"

Joel made his way down to Ellie, now standing over the corpse. "Not a bad shot, eh?" She asked, cocking her head sideways.

"I've seen better." Joel said, cracking a smile.

Ellie slugged him on the shoulder. "Asshole." She laughed then grabbed the antlers and shook them around. "I'm gonna mount these bad boys right above my bed." She looked over it, as if to see how she would move it.

"Hold on, I've got a little something special for this occasion. Been saving it for a while." Joel began to dig around in his bag.

Ellie began to bounce up and down as if she were a little girl again. "What could it be!" She said in a sarcastic tone.

Joel shot a quick glare, then pulled out a polaroid camera. "I think I'll save this moment."

"Where did you find that?"

Joel turned it over and inspected it. "Well, Maria gave it to me a few months back, right before she found out she was pregnant. She may regret that decision later on." Joel let out a short laugh.

"Well, let's see if she's still got some juice!" Ellie crouched over the moose's head and hoisted it up by its antlers. "God damn, this bastard's heavy! Hurry up!"

Joel fumbled around with it a bit. "Give me a break, it's been twenty-three years since I've so much as seen one of these." He finally got it ready and looked through the veiwport. "Damn it, it's blacked out."

Ellie let her arms go slack. "Well, what the hell does that mean?"

"It means, I'll just have to guess what I'm taking a picture of." Joel moved it into position as Ellie hoisted the head again. "Say 'cheese'!"

"What?"

"Just smile." Ellie made a huge grin, and Joel depressed the lever.

"Now what?" Ellie said, letting the head slump back into the water.

Joel pulled the picture out of the camera and shook it. "Now, we wait."

"Well, let's get this guy's fat ass back home." She began to drag him from the water. She looked back at Joel who was admiring the developing photo. "Shit Joel, give me a hand will ya'?"

"Yeah, yeah, be right there." Joel slid the photo into his breast pocket. He grabbed the hind legs. "God damn Ellie, of all things to want to hunt."

"Hey! I didn't know he'd weigh as much as a truck!"

When they reached the road, they found Ben waiting with a horse and a sled. "Figured you may need this." He said, slapping the hindquarters.

"You figured right." Joel said, stretching his back.

"We had it handled." Ellie spat, crossing her arms.

Ben looked at her condescendingly. "Sure you did."

They hoisted it onto the sled and walked along side. "So, how'd that picture of ours turn out?" Ellie asked leaning into Joel's arm.

Joel slid it out of his pocket and shook it. "Looks like my aim translates to photography too." He and Ellie both admired the picture, which placed Ellie and the moose on the far left side.

Joel went to hand it to her, but she pushed it away. "No, you keep it, as a testament to your awesome photography skills." She laughed and ran up next to Ben. "Told you I could get him."

Ben handed her a bottle, which she slid into her bag. "Yeah, well, fuck you too."

"No thanks, you're not my type." She gave him a mocking smile and slapped him on the back. She then dropped back to Joel.

"What was that about?" Joel gestured to the bag.

"Oh, this?" She pulled the bottle out. "It's for you."

Joel took it in his hand and turned it over. He pulled back the peeling label. "John Jameson and Sons, Irish Whiskey. What's this for?"

"I remember you mentioning something about it a long time ago, back in Ohio." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I overheard Ben bragging that he'd found a case of the stuff and that it was still good. So I made a bet that if I bagged this moose in one shot, I'd get the whole case."

"Well, it is my favorite, but there's something wrong."

"What's that?"

"This isn't a case, it's just one bottle." He tossed it between his hands.

Ellie threw her head back and groaned. "Joel, I know that. Just, consider this a down payment, a sign of good faith."

"If you say so." They walked up to the gate and Ben handed Joel the reigns to the horse. Joel mounted and turned to him. "Leave the rest on my doorstep." He smiled and began to ride off.

Ben saluted lazily. "Yes, sir!" He said jokingly.

They unloaded the moose at Charlie's butcher shop. Charlie walked out to greet them. "Jesus fellas! How do you want 'im carved up?"

Ellie piped up. "Get me as many mid-sized cuts as possible, and save me the antlers will ya'?"

Charlie heaved the bull onto the large slab in the center of his room. "Can do missy, how're you payin' this'un off?"

"You get a quarter, as usual." Ellie said, looking around the shop. "How much do you want for the boar bacon?"

"Do you have any empty bottles?"

"What kind and what for?" Joel interjected.

Charlie turned to him and wiped his hands on the buckskin leather apron. "Well, me and Dora started brewing beer with the stuff we get from Simon's farm. All we're missin' is some bottles to put the stuff in."

Joel thought for a second. "Yeah, there's a place just down the road, I saw a ton of intact ones there. Ellie and I will grab 'em for ya' tomorrow."

"Much appreciated Joel!" Charlie turned back to the bull. "Come'n back in a couple hours, I'll have 'im ready by then."

Ellie sauntered out the door. "C'mon Joel, we gotta' go get the rest of that case."


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

The sky over the field was slowly darkening. Any and all wildlife was silent. A cold breeze swept through the trees. There was a single mound of dirt. A wooden cross was staked at the head. A human shadow was cast across it. She stood there, her red hair matted in sweat and mud, tears running down her cheeks. She had lost her everything that morning. The only person she had ever loved, just gone.

She knelt down and drew pictures in the soft red dirt. After a few minutes, she rose once again. "Goodbye, Joel." She walked away from his shallow grave, dragging her feet as she walked.

She entered her home somberly. Everything felt wrong. There was no smell of meat smoking around the back. No radio playing the collection of tapes and CD's they had collected over the years. No table settings were out, awaiting their next meal. She walked in the kitchen and looked at the small cake Joel had made for her birthday. It was half eaten. They had eaten a piece every night for the last three days. Just three days; he held out 3 days for her. He kept his failing heart going just long enough for her to celebrate her, "Special Day" as he called it. She loved him, and she would miss him until she passed into whatever world waited for her after death.

There was a light rasping on the door. She slowly walked over and cracked open the door. There stood Tommy's boy, Victor. Now nearly eight, he was growing into the spitting image of Tommy, except for those eyes, those were definitely Maria's eyes.

She pulled the door open. "Hey guy, this isn't a great time."

Victor looked up at her. "I know, but daddy told me to come and tell you that he wants to see you at our house."

"Did he say why?"

"He said it was something about Uncle Joel. Something you would want to see." Victor bounced between his feet.

"Alright, run on home and tell him I'll be there in a few minutes." She said, scratching her forearm.

"Okay!" Victor turned and ran down the road, chanting a song she didn't recognize.

She turned back and shut the door. She began to tear up again. She wished she could be that naïve and ignorant again. It would be peaceful and easy. She wandered toward the staircase. She reached the second story landing and turned to her right. She entered Joel's bedroom and looked around, at the dark sheeted bed. At the painting above his bed, he said it was something by some guy named Picasso. She spotted the framed picture of Joel and Sarah at his bedside. She walked over and picked it up. Underneath she found something more. She found the picture he had taken of her, seven years ago with that moose. She put them both back. As she walked out, she looked back, probably for the last time. The rules stated she couldn't have a house that could accommodate more than were in the family. Now, with Joel gone, she'd have to move to a smaller home, making way for a new family to move in. It would be the first time she lived on her own. Alone, something she had never been. She had always had someone. Riley, Marlene, Joel, someone was always there to guide her. Now, she was lost.

She entered her room. She walked up to the moose antlers above her headboard. Everything reminded her of him. The striped jacket in her closet reminded her of ECU, the place she nearly lost him, ten years before. The deer's skull reminded her of the winter of the same year, the horrors she faced and the time Joel proved he would never let anything happen to her. Then there was the stuffed giraffe. The thing that reminded her that no matter what, she could find she could find comfort, here at home.

She flung the closet door open and grabbed her backpack. Sorting through it she found her handgun, the same Model 70 Joel had given her ten years ago in Pittsburgh. She checked the magazine and slid it in her waistband. She ran downstairs and started for Tommy's

When she arrived, Maria was standing outside. "Hey hun', How are you holding up?" She brought Ellie in for a hug.

Ellie built up her nerve quickly. "It's tough, but I'm doing fine." She tried her hardest not to burst into tears.

Maria squeezed her tight before holding her at arm's length. "You can't lie to me, I've known you too long."

She followed Maria inside the house and saw Tommy cooking in the large kitchen. "You wanted to see me?" She said, setting her bag by the door.

Tommy wiped his hands on a towel and turned around. "Yes, how're you feelin'?"

Ellie sat on the couch and Victor came and snuggled in next to her. "Tommy, I'll be fine." She choked on her words and her voice cracked.

Tommy raised his eyebrows. "Well, you've got me sold."

Ellie swallowed with some trouble. "How are you doing?"

"I'll be fine Ellie; he was having trouble a while ago. We were ready for this moment." Tommy looked down. "Still hard though."

Ellie sat Victor up and leaned onto her knees. "So, why'd you send this little guy over?"

"I've got a little something for you. Come with me." Tommy walked up the stairs.

Ellie got up and followed him into their room. He walked over to a gun safe and spun the lock. He messed up the first and had to do it over. He popped it open and reached inside. He pulled out a video camera.

"Here, he gave this to me a couple years back. Told me to hang onto it and to only give it to you if something happened to him." He tossed it to her.

Ellie rolled it in her hands. "Does it work?"

"It might. The batteries are probably dead though." He reached into the safe and pulled out batteries and a charger. "If they don't, try these. They're rechargeable."

"Thanks." Ellie opened up the screen.

"Uh, he said it was for your eyes and ears only. You may want some privacy." Tommy said, reaching out and closing the screen.

Ellie looked at him. "Alright, thanks Tommy."

"Go on now, before I get all emotional and start preaching!" Tommy said with a small laugh.

Ellie turned and went outside, saying goodbye to Maria and Victor on her way out. She slowly made her way home; stopping by Charlie's to grab some of his now ever popular boar bacon. Shortly after walking through the door she flung down her bag and opened up the camera. It powered up, but just. She decided she'd try the chargeable ones.

A few hours later she popped the fully charged batteries in and powered it up. She saw a much younger Joel who was sitting in their living room. He began to speak. "I hope to hell this thing is working. Well, I don't have time. You're over at Jenny's place." He shuffled in his chair. "Well Ellie, right now, you're twenty years old, and I, well, I'm still an old man. I'm making this in the hopes that you won't need to watch this for many more years." Joel pulled some stuff out of his bag and placed it on the table in front of him. "Alright, I've gotten to thinking, now that Tommy and Maria have a kid and all, that I should have let you decide what you wanted to do all those years ago in Salt Lake City. Victor's showed me that you doing what you think is right, is much more valuable than saving yourself from pain." Joel shuffled the stuff on the table around. "However, despite that, I can't risk losing you, so I have to make this video. Ellie, you can still find the vaccine." Ellie sat up, she was extremely interested now. "I take it you remember Old George, god, do I hope that bastard's still alive when you see this." Ellie laughed. "Anyway, he's a firefly, one of the first actually. He knew Marlene. He was one of the main supporters of finding the cure. He can tell you the location of every facility they ever so much as sneezed in." He held up the objects, what appeared to be an old coffee tin, and a manila envelope. "I'm going to give him these." He set them back down. "Just some stuff you might need to find the vaccine. Look, I can hear you in the street." He began to put the things back in his bag. "If you decide you want to find the vaccine, talk to George, or his son if he's dead." He reached up to the camera as if to turn it off. "Ellie, I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. Now, How do you turn this damn thin-" The screen went black.

Ellie closed the screen. She sat for a moment and thought. She threw the camera in her bag and ran upstairs. She quickly began gathering things, clothes, ammo, guns, anything she'd need for a long journey. She turned to exit the room. She stopped in her tracks. She looked down at the giraffe on the floor. She stood for a second before kicking it aside and running into the hall. She stepped into Joel's room one last time. She walked to his end table. She picked up the pictures of Sarah and her. She slid them in her bag and grabbed Joel's backpack. She searched it for anything useful. She pulled out a few things. She would give the bag to Tommy before she left. He might like it. She ran downstairs and stopped at the doorjamb. All of the memories she would have of this house, she would remember them all. She then ran down the road, straight to Old George's place.


End file.
